Nova
by Razorwind
Summary: Jason is thrown out of a dimensional tunnel onto a planet in turmoil. He must help or the planet and it's enhabitents will be doomed. DISCONTINUED due to deletion of the previous fics in the sequence.
1. Chapter 1 Arrival

Nova  
  
A Razormon fic  
  
Disclaimer  
  
OK people, the only thing in this fic I don't own is the Digimon related stuff, everything else is of my creation and Nicking it will end up with you getting acquainted with the end of my lovely PGSI Sniper rifle  
  
OK this isn't in script form  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~~~~~~~ "I love you Jason"  
  
~~~~~~~ "I know you do, now go"  
Marie hesitated, then ran towards Jason, kissed him soundly on the lips then ran out the hole in the wall. Looking back she saw Jason's armour digitising as he was sucked into the vortex  
  
Jason saw that she was safely away and gave up his struggle to stay in the Digital world, he was sucked up and back into the swirling Vortex.  
  
~~~~~~~ "Jason?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Huh? Timemon? Where are you?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "I'm all around you Jason, I've been digitised remember. I'm going to seal myself in your crest Jason, I can't fight but when we both have enough energy I can armour bond"  
  
~~~~~~~ "OK, do it"  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Jason watched as the particles of his Digimon swirled round him and dived into his crest, it glowed gold then the glow faded and Jason was left alone in the swirling tunnel he was floating down. There was a ripple in the walls of the tunnel and Jason felt himself being pulled down a side passage towards a red disk similar to the Vortex that had pulled Jason into the tunnel.  
  
D'neth and his fellow worshipers were gathered around, in front of the Dragon Gateway. They were the last, the last worshipers of The Almighty Dragon, the last link in The Four-way chain, and last line of contact to the Spiritual plane. They had gathered in the Temple of the Dragon to pray to the creature of wisdom when the circle formed by the dragon's curving wings on the décor of the Gateway began to shimmer, the shimmering turned red then it erupted into a glowing red orb which twisted itself into a spinning vortex and a body fell out of it.  
  
Jason fell out of the vortex into a room full of people. He tried to take it all in, the splendid artwork all over the room, the portal he had been flung out of, all the people, but he couldn't, he just couldn't, his senses shut down and Jason fell headlong into unconsciousness  
  
~~~~~~~ "Who is he?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Is he alright?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "What's that pendent on his Necklace?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Give him some room, I think he's wakening up"  
  
~~~~~~~ The voices were the first thing Jason could register in his blurred and confused mind, were they talking to him or about him? He couldn't think straight, No, he'd have to do something, opening his eyes would be a start, a good one at that, he opened his eyes slowly and saw the room's ceiling, and hundreds of faces staring down at him  
  
~~~~~~~ "Where am I?" asked Jason  
  
~~~~~~~ "You are in the Temple of the Dragon" replied a voice  
  
~~~~~~~ "And you are?" enquired Jason  
  
~~~~~~~ "My name is D'neth, and yours is?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Uh, Jason"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Well Jason, welcome to Nova Alta"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Nova wha?" Said a puzzled Jason  
  
~~~~~~~ "Nova Alta, it's the name of our planet" Answered D'neth  
  
~~~~~~~ "Oh"  
  
~~~~~~~ D'neth helped Jason to his feet and carried him towards the door. "Nice bracelet" Said Jason "is it to do with your religion?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "No, it's a slave cuff" replied D'neth in a bitter voice  
  
~~~~~~~ D'neth and his fellow slaves carried Jason out of the Temple.  
  
~~~~~~~ "Oh, Jason?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Yes, mister...?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "J'ranth, What is that pendent on your necklace?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Penden? Oh, it's a crest" Replied Jason  
  
~~~~~~~ "Did you say that that is a crest?" asked D'neth  
  
~~~~~~~ "Yep, I did"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Take him to the elder" someone said  
  
~~~~~~~ "Yes the elder has one, take him to him" said someone else  
  
~~~~~~~ The group changed course and headed towards a hut on the fringes of the village they had been walking through.  
  
~~~~~~~ "The elder?"  
  
~~~~~~~ "The Elder is someone who came through the gateway 78 orbits* ago. He also has a crest"  
  
~~~~~~~ They stopped at the hut and D'neth knocked on the door.  
  
~~~~~~~ "Who is it?" a reedy voice called  
  
~~~~~~~ "It's D'neth"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Come in my friend"  
  
~~~~~~~ Jason followed D'neth into the hut and saw an old man on a reed mat in front of a Fire  
  
~~~~~~~ "Who is this?" enquired the Elder  
  
~~~~~~~ "This is Jason, Elder, he came through the Dragon Gateway and he has a crest"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Show me your crest Jason"  
  
~~~~~~~ Jason took off his crest and passed it to the Elder, it glowed gold as the Elder reached out his hand to take it, but a silver glow came from the Elder's chest and the gold glow of Jason's crest faded.  
  
~~~~~~~ "Ahhh, the crest of time"  
  
~~~~~~~ "You know about it?" whispered Jason  
  
~~~~~~~ " Yes I do, Jason, I am 92 years old and I'm dying, I want you to have this"  
  
~~~~~~~ The Elder passed Jason his crest  
  
~~~~~~~ " That is the crest of blades Jason. My digimon, Razormon, is sealed inside, you can awaken him but only for a few minuets, an hour tops so please take him"  
  
~~~~~~~ The Elder passed Jason his crest of time back  
  
~~~~~~~ "Now go, I need to sleep, yes, I think I'll sleep for a long time"  
  
~~~~~~~ Jason placed both crests around his neck and the crest of blades fused onto the same string as the crest of time. He and D'neth left as the Elder slept.  
  
~~~~~~~ "Jason? I have to take you to see Jar'eneth now"  
  
~~~~~~~ "Who's Jar'eneth"  
  
"Our en-slaver"  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That's the first chapter folks please read and review * one orbit equals one year 


	2. Chapter 2 Jar'eneth

NOVA  
  
Chapter 2  
''WHAT!!"  
  
"Jason, Jason, calm down"  
  
"NO! I'm not going to be anyone's slave"  
  
"JASON! Calm down, 'slave' is just a figure of speech towards our relationship with Jar'eneth. Really we act like his subjects confined to our village and our work areas"  
  
"OK, as long as I work in your area"  
  
"I'll see what I can do. Oh Jason, for your meeting with Jar'eneth we need to change your name, nothing drastic just to something like J'son"  
  
Jason and D'neth walked towards the edge of the village and towards a line of pens with strange creatures in them, they vaguely resembled Yaks  
  
"This way Jason, we'll take a Yarxx to Jar'eneth's fortress"  
  
"A what?"  
"It's a beast of burden that we use to get from place to place, there is a faster way but this way will suffice"  
  
Jason and D'neth climbed into a cart hooked up to a Yarxx, D'neth opened a side box and removed a tube, he flicked it up and a whip line flew out. He flicked it down then up again and with a WHIP-CRACK the Yarxx sped off towards Jar'eneth's fortress. As the Yarxx trundled on it's way towards the fortress Jason gazed around in awe at the landscape  
"Hay, D'neth?"  
"Yes"  
"Is that thing on your collar another mark of enslavement?" Jason pointed to a dragon head stitched to the collar of D'neth's coat  
"Nope, that shows what sect of Novalism I worship"  
"So which sect do you belong to?"  
  
"I worship the Almighty Dragon, you already know that Jason, you came into our world through the Dragon Gateway, remember?"  
  
"Yeh, sorry I forgot"  
  
They carried on riding towards the fortress. Half an hour later they were at the gates of Chu'long Fortress  
  
"Remember Jason you will be referred to as J'son and, please, no scenes about slavery, OK? Just accept it and be done with it"  
  
"OK"  
  
"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted a guard at the gates  
  
"It's D'neth with a new slave"  
  
"Ahh, D'neth, how is the village?"  
  
"Its OK Frank how's the missus?"  
  
"She's fine, pass through"  
  
Jason and D'neth passed through the gates and headed up towards the main building  
  
"So D'neth, who is this?" said Jar'eneth  
  
"This is J'son, my lord"  
  
"Hmmm, what is his sect?"  
  
"I..."  
  
"It's Dragon, my lord"  
  
"Uh huh, and his Psy?"  
  
"I don't know, my liege"  
  
"Let's check, shall we?"  
  
Jar'eneth raised his hand and a blue light enveloped Jason and lifted him off the floor, it concentrated at his forehead, hands and feet then it faded and Jason crashed to the floor  
  
"Interesting, all five points, all three Psy's, a good find D'neth"  
  
Jar'eneth threw a bracelet at Jason; it glowed and fixed itself to Jason's wrist  
  
"Now, goodbye"  
  
As soon as they were supposedly out of ear shot Jason voiced his opinion  
  
"What's with that creep?"  
  
"He says that he is a spirit fused Deamon"  
  
"Deamon my arse"  
  
As soon as he said that a black ghostly arm raised from the floor and shot towards Jason  
  
"Oh crap"  
  
The arm shot through Jason, sending torrents of energy through Jason's body  
Well please R&R cause that's the next chapter finished. 


	3. Chapter 3 Dragons

Nova Chapter 2  
  
A/N just to say that all the Dragons featured in this story are from Anne McCaffrey's 'Dragon riders of Pern' novels and don't come from my head  
Jason lies on the floor panting  
  
"Jason? Jason? Are you all right?" asked a worried voice  
  
"Urrrr, yeh, I'm OK. You'll never believe me, but that's not the first time that's happened to me" replied a shaken Jason  
  
Jason got up off the floor and walked towards D'neth  
  
"So? Where now?" asked Jason  
  
"Get in the cart and I'll drive you there"  
  
D'neth drove the Yarxx towards a strange looking building that had strange sounds coming from it  
  
"D'neth? What's that building?"  
  
"You'll see"  
  
as they rounded the corner Jason saw was inside the building  
  
"Oh my god!"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
the building was full of pens, and the pens were full of...  
  
"Dragons!"  
  
"Hi D'neth, new friend?" called a voice from the dragon pens  
  
"Yep, this is Jason"  
  
a man with glasses came out of a pen containing a massive, bronze coloured, dragon  
  
"Hi Jason, I'm Al'x, the dragon keeper. That's my Dragon, Mnementh"  
  
the dragon bugled a welcome to D'neth and Jason  
  
"D...Dragons, real live dragons" stuttered Jason  
  
"what's with him?" enquired Al'x "he acts like he's never seen a dragon before"  
  
"He hasn't, he came from another place, through the dragon gateway" replied D'neth  
  
"WHAT!! NO!! YOU'RE JOKING!!"  
  
"no, I'm not joking"  
  
"hey, Al'x, why has this dragon's pen gate got a 'danger' sign on it?"  
  
"well..."  
  
"I will tell you"  
  
"what did you say?"  
  
"I didn't say anything"  
  
"what's that dragon's name" asked Jason, jerking his thumb in the dragon with the warning sign's direction  
  
"My name is Ruth"  
  
"so his name is Ruth" said Jason  
  
"Who told you that?" asked D'neth and Al'x simultaneously  
  
"Ruth did"  
  
"the sign is there because of what I did"  
  
"and what did you do Ruth?" enquired Jason  
  
"a white tiger worshiper tried to be my rider by donning riding gear and leaping onto my back. I threw him off then broke his spine with my tail"  
  
Al'x and D'neth looked on as Jason conversed with Ruth, Mnementh giving Al'x the dragon's side of the conversation  
  
"looks like he's chosen you to be his rider Jason" Al'x said  
  
"what? Jason can't be a rider, he's not a dragon follower" D'neth told Al'x  
  
"what sect does he belong to?"  
  
"well...none actually"  
  
"there you go, it looks like he's destined to be a dragon follower"  
  
"I would like to worship a creature as glorious as Ruth" said Jason in reply to Al'x's and D'neth's argument  
  
"there, it's settled, we give him the proper intonation rite then teach him to ride Ruth"  
  
"OK, Jason it's back to the temple for us"  
  
"OK D'neth, goodbye Ruth"  
  
"see you soon Jason"  
  
"I could give you a lift on Mnementh if you like" said Al'x  
  
"OK"  
  
they all climbed onto Mnementh's back and he took off. D'neth had relinquished a locker of it's cloths and had brought a work uniform, an intonation robe and a casual outfit for Jason to wear. The flight back to the Temple Of The Dragon took hardly any time at all.  
  
"Jason, go to that room and prepare for your intonation ceremony" said D'neth, handing Jason the robe  
  
When Jason was called from the preparation room he saw the temple packed with people in worship robes standing in silence with a few whispers going round the crowd  
OK another chapter finished, the dragons, their colouring and their names all belong to Anne McCaffrey but Al'x is a self insertion 


	4. Chapter 4 Initionation

Nova Chapter 4  
  
-"Dragon speech"- -------------------- = change of scene  
Jason looked around, someone called his name and he turned to see D'neth, in sort of priest robes, at an altar with a dragon carved into the back. He walked down from the room and noticed the Dragon head insignia on every one's robes, and the lack of it from his robes, he approached the altar as D'neth spoke  
  
"state your name, un sected stranger,"  
  
"My name is Jason"  
  
"state your wish"  
  
"I wish to serve the Dragon of the four way chain"  
  
Jason had been briefed beforehand about what he had to say  
  
"do you pledge your soul to worshiping our God and not to another of the four way chain"  
  
"I pledge my soul to the Almighty Dragon, and will never go the way of another of the Almighty's"  
  
"do you pledge to accept his gifts, even if they are unwanted?"  
  
"I will accept his gifts with the knowledge that he has deemed me worthy to be given them"  
  
"then Jason, you must now complete the challenge to test your true faith ,behold..."  
  
the floor opened and a tiled one emerged, stretching from the altar to the Dragon Gateway  
  
"...the floor of faith. Blindfold him"  
  
Two people moved towards Jason, one was Al'x but he didn't know the other one, they blind folded Jason and guided him to the tiled floor  
  
"there are many paths across Jason, if you truly are willing to devote yourself to the Dragon then you will be guided along the path, stepping on only the dragon tiles. Now go"  
  
Jason stepped forward and saw a blue light through the darkness of his eyelids and the blindfold, the blue light told him to step on it, he walked forward until he could see the blue all around his vision, then, the blue lay out in a path before him, he could see the path of dragon tiles through his closed eyes and so followed it. When he could see the path no longer he stopped and he felt the blindfold be removed, he blinked in the new bright light and stared ahead of himself, there were three glowing points of blue light in the gateway, they shot at him, one in each eye and one in his forehead, Jason saw only blue as he fell towards the floor.  
  
--------------------  
  
Jason stared around him, the view was quite different to what he saw only a few seconds ago, for example, there was no temple, only barren, destroyed plains of rock and an acrid smell, and ,he noticed, a glowing sky blue Dragon, it was his God, the almighty Dragon  
  
-"Actually I prefer to be called Sethneth"-  
  
Jason was amazed, his god the almighty dra... Sethneth, had spoken, to him!  
  
-"I am here also Jason"- said a voice behind him  
  
Jason whirled around to see Ruth standing there, with the draconic equivalent of a grin on his face  
  
"Ruth I am, well I think I am now a dragon follower, I can be your rider"  
  
-"Your 'God' the 'Almighty dragon' is standing right behind you Jason"- said a disgruntled voice  
  
"oops, sorry Sethneth, but, why am I here? Wherever here might be"  
  
"I have brought you here, along with your dragon Ruth, to show you what has happened and what will happen. Observe"  
  
they all turned to see...Tanks? Jason was confused, weren't the people of this planet in a Medieval period? Why, or how did they have tanks?  
  
-" they weren't always an Imperialistic people, they were as advanced as your people, if not more so, but things change, watch"- said Sethneth's regal voice beside him  
  
--------------------  
  
"Master Al'x! Master Al'x!, something is wrong with that white, dangerous dragon"  
  
"what? Ruth? Oh he's not dangerous but what is wrong?" Al'x said to the man that had hurried in  
  
"well that dragon, Ruth, his eyes have a blue glow around them as does his forehead"  
  
"yes, that has happened before"  
  
"when?"  
  
"oh...I'd say...about a minute or so ago"  
  
--------------------  
  
Jason watched as two hi-tech armies faced each other, the battle was bloody, infantry was cut to pieces by mini-gun fire, Nukes flew and fell all around, then, suddenly, a shimmer of blue was seen on the ground as a massive blue tendril burst forth and destroyed the Tanks and guns and nukes and armour and side arms, it then covered the troops who fell to the ground as the tendril crept back to the depths of the planet.  
  
"what was that?"  
  
-"I don't know"- was Ruth's reply  
  
-"it was the planet's spirit form, Gaia"- Sethneth informed them  
  
"what did it do?"  
  
-"it was about to be destroyed, well the physical part of it anyway, so it destroyed all offensive and defensive weaponry and all hi-tech transportation, though it left the rail launchers intact and working"- answered Sethneth, his regal tones reverberating round the empty space  
  
suddenly they were in a more recognisable time and place  
  
"the present?"  
  
-"a future"-  
  
they appeared next to Jar'eneth's chair with him in it, looking extremely old, they watched as he stiffened momentarily then slid down in his chair, then something happened , a timer blinked into life beside them, the countdown showed one week with a, and Jason had no trouble recognising that symbol, the radioactive symbol pulsating next to the countdown  
  
-"before you ask, that timer is counting down to the end of the world. Jar'eneth was in orbit when Gaia wiped the planet so when he became planetary ruler he installed Thermo-Nuclear devices around the core of the planet, Gaia didn't fight back because it had used too much energy in it's incredible technology reducing feat so when Jar'eneth dies the timer begins"- explained Sethneth  
  
they were back in the wasteland  
  
-"Jason, I want you to kill Jar'eneth, there is an organisation called Gaia Escape who can tell you what happens when a planet dies, they have the ability to achieve what they intend to do help them, I will give you and Ruth a useful gift now, back to where you belong"- said Sethneth  
  
"will we...?"  
  
-" yes Jason, you will see me again, I will be with you all the way"-  
  
then Jason saw only black until his eyes snapped open and he saw D'neth's, Al'x's and a girl's worried faces over him, they went from Anxious to startled to amazed in a matter of seconds  
  
"what? What is it?" asked Jason  
  
"I...I...it's" stammered the girl, Jason could see something familiar about her  
  
"D'ren means that...that" D'neth tried, and failed, to explain, D'ren, a bit off but still close Jason thought  
  
" Your eyes have changed Jason, and they look amazing" said Al'x, ahh good old Al'x, strait to the point thought Jason  
  
"My eyes?"  
  
they gave Jason a mirror and he could see that his pupil had turned a shimmering silver and his iris was a glittering, glimmering gold 


	5. Chapter 5 Powers

**_Nova_**

Chapter 5

Jason stared at his eyes, was this the gift Sethneth had given him? if so how did he use it? what

did it do? and D'reth, she looked remarcably like...no it couldn't be, or could it? any way it was of no use to him, yet.

"Jason? Jason? could you unhand the mirror please? I would like it back you know" said a feminine voice

"sorry" was Jason's reply as he relinquished the mirror to D'reth

"well Jason, I think we should return to the Dragon hall, You can go on Mnementh or maybe D'neth will take you on his Dragon, Canth" said Al'x in his ear

Jason agreed to go on Mnementh to the Dragon hall. during the flight Al'x explained about the politics of the dragon village, everyone has a dragon, Green, Blue, Brown, Bronze or Gold, and all gold dragons are queens. there is a Major Queen and minor queens, and when a dragon mates with the major queen, his rider becomes leader of the entire village(which, in truth, was more a small town) and, Al'x added with some malice, D'neth should be leader but J'ram always made sure that D'neth was away on an errand when Ramoth, the major queen, rose to mate. The minor queens granted their mate's rider sway over areas of the village, Al'x added that he was lord of the dragon hall due to this set-up, with his wife S'lina and her dragon Pridith.

"when are we going to get there?" asked Jason

"Mnementh can only fly straight there, but when his battle rage is roused then he can teleport in a matter of seconds" said Al'x

they reched the dragon hall and when they landed Jason ran towards Ruth who bugled a welcome

_"your eyes are different Jason_"

_"so are yours Ruth, they're gold like mine"_

_"is this the gift Sephneth was talking about?"_

_"probobaly"_

"Jason, over here! I've some riding gear you might need" came Al'x's shout from the oter side of the hall

Jason went over to Al'x and was taught about the riding cloths, the saddle and the battle saddle he then was shown how to attach the saddle to Ruth and then they took off and flew around the  airspase above the hall then landed again

"you can have those" Al'x told Jason as Jason tried to hand the clothes and the saddles back to Al'x

"I'd better get back to the Temple and find D'neth so I can get a place to live" Jason told Al'x as he threw on the saddle and mounted Ruth

Ruth took off and started winging his way back to the Dragon temple

_"how do you think sethneth's gift works Ruth?"_

_"maybe you should ask him"_

_"at the temple maybe"_

After about half an hour they landed infront of the temple and Jason walked inside looking for D'neth but found someone else instead, praying infront of the gateway

"hi, do you know where D'neth is?" Jason asked the old man

"off on an errand some where, but i was wanting to talk to you, Do you know how to tap into your Deamana form?"

"no, I don't, what is a Deamana form?"

"here we go, right, you know that there are two plains of existance, the physical plane and the spiritual plain, you exist in both plains as a human and a spirit, well, tapping into your Deamana form is when you fuse temporaly to your spirit form and take on it's form and powers"

"how do you fuse with a spirit?"

"this is easier for Dragon worshipers by use of energy expansion, a gift we are given when we join the sect, you just focus on a portal in your mind then project it around yourself"

Jason watched as the old man concentrated then a golden light outlined him, the outline glowed and the old man's shape changed and became a bird like shape, an old bird at that, then changed back into the old man

"hmmm, I'll try that some time"

Jason flew off on Ruth and started looking for an  outcrop of land and landed on a suitable one. Jason sat down and concentrated on what Sethneth looked like, then called out to him with his mind, he heard another voice answer him and felt himself lift off the ground and up, looking down he saw his body still sitting on the ground, then he was in whiteness, nothingness. As he gazed about him he saw Sethneth's Sky blue body matirialize before him.

**_"you called?"_**

****

" yes, Sethneth? Can you grant me the ability to access my deamana form?

**_"of course I can, but I'll grant you an exta bonus on that, with Deamana forms most  people create wepons to use beside their powers, i will grant you the ability to retain that wepon in your physical form"_**

****

"thanks Sethneth, oh by the way, what's up with my eyes?"

**_"they allow you to see things as they realy are, you can see past lies, deceptions and shrouds to see things as they are not as te person ishis you to believe they are. they work automaticly before you ask"_**

"right, OK send me back"

**_"OK, but it will end in a bump"_**

****

Jason felt his directin change from floating to down, he was falling through the nothingness, gaining momentem as he fell. His body appeared through the nothingness as he slammed back into it, forcing his body to his knees.

   Jason got up and started to focus on his portal, he sensed the glow around him and felt his body change as he morphed into his Deamana form.


	6. Chapter 6 Forging the blade

NOVA 

Chapter 6

Jason concentrated on the first portal-ish shape he could think of, a pentagram, he envisioned the portal glowing and he saw himself step through the portal, then, everything was a gold blur! The world seemed to spin and he felt as if the ground had been grabbed at one end and yanked out from under his feet like a carpet! Then everything settled and his vision cleared with just a gold haze around the edge of his vision.

  "I don't feel different" Jason said, almost in disappointment

_"no, but you certainly look different. Look into this pool"_

Jason looked in the pool and jumped when he saw the face that greeted him on the surface of the glassy water. It was feline, a tiger, no! A lion, he had become a lion. Well, he now knew what his deamana form looked like, a sky blue lion with darker blue on his paws and a white mane with white upper leg and upper arm fur. And he still had his golden eyes. Now Jason turned his mind to more pressing matters, like where he was going to live, yes, that was why he came here in the first place, he was thinking that he could maybe build one of those old style Japanese houses, with the wood and the paper screen doors, he closed his eyes and pictured the pagoda he and Marie had visited one weekend to visit a relative, the house even had a Shinto gateway in front of it, while he was envisioning this his han…paw, paw not hand, was growing cold and moving about, when Jason opened his eyes to see what was causing the cold he was visualising the Shinto gateway and was just in time to see a blast of ice stream from his right paw to put the finishing touches on a ice version of the Shinto gateway he had remembered, he turned and saw the ice pagoda, as he had remembered his relative's pagoda, right down to the yin-yang above the main doorway. 

 Jason was stunned, had he done that? Without noticing? That was not necessarily true, he had noticed the cold of his paw, but not noticed he was building a home from ice. He walked up to the main doorway and pulled sideways. The door slid open to reveal…

  "nothing?"

 The inside was bare, why? And then the realisation hit him, he had only visualised the outside of the house, not the inside. He closed his eyes and visualized a Japanese bed by the wall with a small table next to it, a wardrobe, a cooking range and a bathroom, he felt strangely week and saw a sudden burst of gold around his vision, felt the world get yanked out from under his feet again and when the world stopped spinning, he found himself in a wooden Japanese pagoda, with hands not paws and hair not a mane. Then he remembered Ruth, how was Ruth going to fit into here? The main doors! Open them widely enough and it might just let Ruth in 

  "Note to self" he said "enlarge main door and make sleeping quarters for Ruth

_"Jason?"_ said a voice in Jason's mind _"can I come in? it's freezing out here"_

_"Yes, sorry my friend I was thinking"_

_"Well next time could you think and let me in at the same time?"_

Jason had to laugh, it was just Ruth's tone of voice, enquiring yet ordering at the same time and those two tones don't mix well. Jason opened the doors as far as they would go so Ruth only had to duck to get in.

  _"It's warmer in here than outside''_ commented Ruth, then directly to Jason he said_ "where will **I sleep?"**_

_ "Don't worry Ruth, I'll sort something out"_

Jason gathered his bedclothes off his bed and made a comfy area on the floor for Ruth to sleep on while he spent the night under the things in the wardrobe he had thoughtfully added. Halfway through the night Jason got a strange urge to change into his Deamana form, he complied and sat down next to the table. A massive shard of spirit energy appeared on the table

  **_"This is for you Jason, forge a spirit weapon for it will become a physical weapon"_** Sethneth's voice echoed around his head and Jason knew what to 

 do

  Jason formed a hammer and tongues from ice and went to work. He hammered relentlessly on the piece of spirit energy, somehow not making a sound, he let the energy talk to him, let it tell him how to form it, where to hit it, where to twist it, where to strengthen it until, at last, he was finished. With the final pound of the hammer the spirit weapon told him it's name, Janto, the Dragon fang blade. Jason picked up the sword in both hands, it felt alive and it's life flowed into Jason, charging him with power. Jason picked up the scabbard that Janto had instructed him to make and slid Janto in with a metallic 'SHHHHHIIINNNKKK!' sound

Then Jason saw the gold at the edge of his vision brighten and prepared himself for what came next.

  "Well, it's not as violent any more and I am recovering faster so that's a good sign" Jason said to himself to reassure himself that it was getting better. Jason looked around and saw Janto where he had put it before he was un-fused with his spirit self. He drew Janto with an ominous metallic ringing, he felt some power in the blade but not the rush of life energy he had felt last night when Janto had been created

  That day he was summoned by J'ram, the ruler of the dragon worshiper's settlement, which had grown from a town to a venerable city but people preferred calling it The Dragon Village, it made them sound more important than the city of dragon worshiping slaves, and was rider to Orth who was mate of Ramoth, Major queen dragon.

  "You wished to see me sir" Jason said, Janto's hilt protruding from behind his shoulder as he had the scabbard attached diagonally across his back by a sword belt he had been given as an intonation present.  

  "yes" said J'ram in a flat drawl "I heard that you Impressed that dangerous dragon, what was his name? oh doesn't matter, from Mnementh and Pridith's clutch, an inferior clutch to Ramoth's clutches don't you agree?"

  "I wouldn't know sir, I haven't seen any clutches hatch yet sir and sir? His name, my dragon's I mean, it's Ruth" answered Jason, wrong answer as it turned out

  "HOW DARE YOU!!" yelled J'ram "NOT AGREE THAT RAMOTH'S CLUTCHES ARE NOT THE BEST! WHY THAT WHITE RUNT OF YOURS, HIS MOTHER WAS OF RAMOTHS CLUTCH, A RUNT AS WELL" and with that he dived at Jason but Jason had had training in Judo and turned J'ram's punch into a Hippon-si-a-nagi throw deflecting Jason's attacker's momentum from forwards to down in a matter of mili-seconds, J'ram was stunned for a second but caught Jason's wrist and slammed his arm around into a cobra clutch

  "NOW, SAY THAT RAMOTH'S CLUTCHES ARE THE BEST!"

  "And if I don't?"

J'ram brought Jason's arm up near to breaking point

  "NOW SAY IT! SAY IT SO ALL CAN HEAR!"

"Ramoth's clutches are the best"

  "LOUDER"

"**Ramoth's clutches are the best"**

  "LOUDER!!" J'ram brought Jason's arm up closer to breaking point, one more centimetre and his left arm would snap like a dry twig

"RAMOTH'S CLUTCHES ARE THE BEST"

"AGAIN!"

"RAMOTH'S CLUTCHES ARE THE BEST"

"AGAIN!!"

"**RAMOTH'S CLUTCHES ARE THE BEST!!"**

"there, that wasn't to difficult now was it?" asked J'ram, letting go of Jason's arm but grabbing hold of Janto's hilt drawing it

"No…sir"

"Now you don't need this heavy blade do you? Let me take care of it, yes?"

"NO, you shall not touch my blade"

J'ram kicked him in the stomach

"I've never seen a blade like this one, so neither will Jar'eneth and all unusual weapons are to be brought to Jar'eneth complete with owner, come on, you get to ride Orth with me, a great honour"

"I have my own dragon sir"

"That wasn't an offer, that was an order" hissed J'ram

as they passed Ramoth her eyes were a lavender of pity and worry when they were on Jason and a fiery red when on J'ram


	7. Chapter 7 Part 1: Revelations

Nova 

Chapter 7 part 1

Jason was, rather unceremoniously, shoved onto Orth's back, J'ram climbing up in front of him, still holding Janto. Orth took off and flew towards Chu'long fortress. Half an hour later they were landing outside Jar'eneth's court in the centre of the fortress. J'ram took Jason through into the great hall and up to Jar'eneth's throne

  "My liege" J'ram said "I have found this slave in possession of this rather unusual weapon" J'ram handed Janto to Jar'eneth

  "you, boy, where did you get this?" Jar'eneth asked

Jason looked at Jar'eneth and saw a gold haze about him, the same gold haze that rested on the edge of his gaze with his eyes. Then the haze around Jar'eneth glowed bright and Jason had to suppress a gasp, he could now see Jar'eneth but he was different, much different. He had two metallic arms, cables and tubes coiled round and up inside and outside of his metal arms, half of his right leg was metal, something in the tubes that looked vaguely like hydraulic fluid bubbled up his leg.  Over his left eye there was a big patch of metal with a cybernetic eye instead of a normal one. Jason realised that Jar'eneth was no Deamon but a cyborg, probably using something to disguise that fact. Jason was brought back to reality by shouting…

  "ARE YOU DEAF BOY!!?? Where did you get this sword?!" Jar'eneth yelled

  "I made it" said Jason simply

  "_you_ made it? Don't make me laugh" said Jar'eneth 

  "so, a liar accuses another of his sin" Jason said, remembering something he had written at school a long time ago

  "WHAT??!!" yelled Jar'eneth "I am not a liar"

  "Yes you are, you claim to be a Deamon but your technology can only conceal so much. There are ways of seeing through disguises" Jason told Jar'eneth

Jason could see Jar'eneth getting angry and raising his arm, and suddenly his fist came shooting off his arm and came speeding towards Jason. Jason ducked just in time as the metal fist flew over him and imbedded itself in the floor. Jason ran towards J'ram and spin kicked him, winding him, J'ram dropped the sword, Jason picked it up and turned just in time for a sharp object to imbed itself in his shoulder. Jason turned his head and saw a hypodermic needle sticking out of his shoulder, a tranquilliser dart, Jason felt suddenly sluggish and very heavy, he dropped to the floor in almost slow-motion, he had passed out before he hit the ground.

  "J'ram?"

"y…yes s…s…sir" replied J'ram clutching his stomach

"take this boy and exile him in the great equatorial desert"

"yes sir, a…at once s…s…sir. But what about his dragon?"

"that runt of a dragon shall be tranquillised and exiled as well" Said Jar'eneth…

To be continued…………………………………………

A/N: this is just half a chapter really because I have no way of linking this part with the next.


	8. Chapter 7 Part 2: Exile

Nova Chapter 7 part 2 

  When Jason woke up he found himself lying inside a tent with his sword on one side and some food on his other side. He saw a large shape outside the tent and, strapping on Janto, he stepped out to see what it was. It was Ruth, lying still on the desert sands, well Jason thought it was a desert, he could see only sand in every direction and…*what was that!*  thought Jason as he caught a glimpse of something to the SSW, there it was again, Jason looked puzzled, was that a sail? If it was it had to be a big one to be seen from this far away, there it was yet again, with a bit of mast showing. Jason watched this phenomenon approach, during this time Ruth woke up and sat, also watching the apparition. As it got closer they saw that it was a strange structure, it had a top level of platforms with Rope Bridge connecting pathways and tiny people (they were small from this distance) scurrying about; checking instruments, blowing horns, turning winches. Then a second section appeared, and Jason gasped, it was a city, of wood, with massive sails rising from it's heights to the structures of platforms and bridges above. There were streets and houses, strange factories and farms, and, at the centre, what looked like a temple with a small palace on top, then the area below the city appeared and Jason saw that the apparition was a massive land sailor, with wheels the size of a four story block of flats and what looked like massive doors in it's side and front.

  When the land sailor ground to a halt in front of them, a crane winched down a platform on which stood three people with strange swords strapped to their backs, all of whom looked like they were in their late teens early twenties

  "You were right D'ana" said one of the two girls "there was someone here"

  "An exile most likely" said the other girl who Jason supposed was D'ana

  "well, get them aboard then" said the boy

 The girls motioned for Jason and Ruth to get on the platform, when they were on the platform was winched up

  "so…who are you three?" asked Jason

  "I'm D'ana" said the girl who Jason had thought was D'ana

  "I'm J'anne, but everyone just calls me J'o's" said the other girl

  "and I'm D'vid" said the boy

  "He's the pessimist of our group" said D'ana

  "am not" said D'vid

 when they were winched all the way up the crane swung in and the platform was lowered in to a space and a click was heard as clips were slid into place to hold it still

  "welcome to Sihn Baran, our Desert city" said a man with a red cloak round his sand coloured clothes "I am Barankan, leader of this city"

  "Hi, I'm Jason, and this is my dragon, Ruth" said Jason in reply to Barankan's statement

  "see" whispered D'ana to J'o "I said he was an exiled dragon follower"

  "Come" said Barankan "we shall have a feast to celebrate our new citizen"

 everyone followed their leader to the big building in the centre of the city for the feast. The feast actually took three hours to prepare with the kitchens working flat out to get everything made, but when everyone sat down to the feast Jason thought that it was worth the wait. Jason and the three people who had spotted him were all sitting at the top of the table with the, what was Barankan? Was he a king? No, was he a mayor? No, that didn't really fit his status he was more of a Baron or Duke than a mayor, Baron Barankan and, what was pointed out to him buy D'ana, the high council of Sihn Baran. The feast was delicious, soups and broths and pastas and pasties, meat and vegetables and a strange food that was similar to Yorkshire pudding. There were pies and cakes and fruits and desserts, then there were the drinks; beers and sodas and ales and cordials and brews of all different sorts. 

  When the feast was over Jason, the three people who had seen him and Barankan went into a side room and sat down

  "now Jason, where are we to put you? Hmmmmm, well you should join the wind blade squad as it was the wind blade chiefs that found you, now accommodation" said Barankan

  "It's OK sir, I can build my own house without having to leech your resources" Jason told the Baron

  "all right, but build it alongside D'ana, J'o and D'vid's quarters" replied Barankan, then to the three wind blade officers "ATENSHUN! OFFICERS, DISSMISSED!"

 D'ana led Jason to where he would build his house, when they got to the open place of wooden floor next to D'ana's house, she asked Jason how he was going to build his house

  "watch" he said

 Jason concentrated, and saw the edge of his vision go gold. This time however, he did not get the carpet pulling effect, just the glow getting extremely bright and then receding, he held up his paw to check that it had worked, it had. He closed his eyes and thought of a house, not to intricate like his pagoda but just a house, with an extension for Ruth, he added furnishings this time and then un-fused and the house became wood. He heard D'ana's gasp as this happened and smiled to himself, then he called Ruth

  _"Ruth, I've built us a house to use whilst we're here"_

_"that's good, is it properly furnished this time?"_

_"yes my friend, now come on"_

 Ruth walked over to the house and went into his part of it 

  "I've got a dragon too" said D'ana, then a dragon lumbered out from the shadows " this is Ashneth"

  "well, goodnight D'ana" Jason said

  "good night Jason" replied D'ana, and she walked into her house  

 Jason changed into some pyjamas and went to sleep in his Japanese bed in his new house.


	9. Chapter 8 Windblades

Nova Chapter 8 

  The sound of someone hammering on his door woke Jason at the crack of dawn

"What is it?" he yelled

"You need to get up and get dressed, I've left the right cloths in front of your door" the person outside said

"Who is it? And why do I have to get up at the crack of dawn?" Jason said to the person outside, walking towards his door

"It's D'ana, and you need to get up now for squadron call" D'ana said

Jason opened the door to get his package and found that D'ana had already gone. He got dressed in the windblades uniform D'ana had left and strapped Janto onto his back. 

  Making his way to where people were lined up with D'ana, J'o and D'vid facing them, Asheth standing behind D'ana, and a marvellous red and golden Phoenix on D'vid's shoulder. Ruth came up behind Jason as he joined the line.

  D'vid turned to D'ana and J'o saying "is everyone here?"

"Yes, everyone's here," replied D'ana

"Good, now lets get on with it" D'vid said, turning to the assembled people he addressed them in the way his rank allowed him

"Right you miserable lot, you are here because you have requested to join the windblades battle corvette squad. There are two ranks, engineers, who build the corvettes, and pilots, who, as the name suggests, pilot the finished one and two man, or woman, corvettes"

  Jason grinned, so he was in the army, something he had said to himself that he would never do. 

  D'ana stepped forward "all those wishing to be pilots step forwards and follow me" Jason stepped forwards along wit over half the group.

  "All engineers to me" said J'o; the rest of the group stepped forwards

"You will follow your commanding officer to receive your extra uniforms, battle armour for pilots and construction gear for engineers. Then pilots will chose engineering partners and you will help each other build your first one person or two person corvette, But before you construct your craft, you must all forge a windblade atlas sword, so reconvene at the forges on Smither street to begin, oh and Jason, strap your other sword in a leg scabbard as the windblade sword goes across your back" D'vid finished his instructions to the…well they could be called cadets…and turned his back on them heading to the forges.

  Jason headed off to follow D'ana and the rest of the pilots to receive their armour, it was interesting armour, the breastplate was a rounded triangle with straps going round the back to secure it on the wearer and to hold the atlas sword, there were a pair of gauntlets and a pair of greeves, leg armour, and a shoulder plate. The armour fit well on Jason so he decided to keep wearing it all the way to the forge. Ruth was waiting at the forge for him

  _"Nice armour Jason"_ Ruth said in Jason's mind

  "_I know, it's comfortable as well_" Jason replied 

They were given metal, an anvil to work at and hammer and tongues and the instructions to get to the basic atlas sword, Jason added some little extras to his blade, he inscribed on the blade 'honour is the path to salvation' it was kind of his family motto. After dipping the blade in the tub of water beside him to cool it off, and started looking around at the others in the forge, some had more flares on their swords then others and the engineers seemed to have the fancier bits on their swords.

  "Windblades, ten hut. Report to the barracks to begin pairing up, if you have two pilots to one engineer then a two pilot corvette is needed" D'vid shouted over the sound of metalwork. Jason's sword was finished so he strapped it to his armour and headed out towards the barracks, in side pair of pilots and engineers started forming, as with most life the male pilots went for pretty female engineers, Jason looked around studying faces and saw one lad sitting in the corner, drawing up corvette plans with no pilot beside him

  "Hi, I'm Jason, who are you, and do you already have pilot partner?" Jason asked the boy who looked startled that he had been spoken to

  "Oh, hi, I'm Zadyk, and no I don't have a partner, I'm not liked to much" the engineer called Zadyk said

  "Hey don't worry, I'll be your partner, just make sure you design a corvette that doesn't fall apart when I'm piloting it" Jason said

Zadyk laughed at that "aye, half the corvettes won't get done due to pilot/engineer infatuation" 


	10. Chapter 9 Construction and a commencing ...

Nova Chapter 9 

Over the next two months Jason and Zadyk worked together on designing their first corvette. Jason spent some time training on the different mock-ups to get familiar with the control systems. He and Zadyk decided on a steering system controlled by the feet, pull the left foot back, you went left, and vice versa. Slowly their corvette took shape, slowly yet faster then some others, namely J'mes' and C'rrol's. J'mes was basically the lughead of the squad, he reckoned he was invincible, that his corvette was going to be the best, that he would be a Strike, a team leader. C'rrol was almost as bad, though if she kept her mind on the task at hand, designing and constructing the corvette, instead of eyeing up J'mes at every opportunity then she could probably achieve something, but, alas, she spent more time looking at J'mes and his 'package' than doing her job. 

 Jason and Zadyk actually finished their basic corvette chasse first, but a jealous J'mes decided to cause trouble.

  "What'cha doin?" He asked Jason, whom he called J'son

  "Our job maybe, J'mes" Jason retorted as he helped Zadyk finish fitting the cockpit windows and door

  "Hmmmmm, that piece of junk will never work J'son. You need something like mine" J'mes replied, not getting the hint. He then pointed at his corvette, which was just a frame and wheels. As Jason and Zadyk turned, J'mes drew his atlas blade and hacked a bit at Jason's corvette. Both Jason and Zadyk turned in the same moment, in the next J'mes found himself held against the wall in the grip of a lion's paw, with a glowing sword at his gut. Jason had Deamanad and was charging an ice attack when D'vid came over, pushing his way through the gathering crowed.

  "All right, all right, break it up, break it up. Jason, drop J'mes, NOT onto the point of your sword, good, now explain" 

  "I was just walking around, minding my own business when J'son grabs me and threatens to destroy my corvette here…" J'mes gestured at Jason and Zadyk's corvette "…them J'son mutated or whatever and you came over, Sir"

  "Mmmmm, yeah, I'll believe you J'mes…When Yarxx fly in the air as dragons, now, Jason, you tell me what happened"

  "Well Sir, J'mes was wondering around, bunking off his work…" "I was never" "…when he came over here and started gloating at us about his corvette. He pointed to it and whilst we looked, he tried to sabotage our corvette by slashing it…" Jason pointed to the slash marks on the back of the armoured cockpit "…I Deamanad out of rage and pinned him against the wall when you came, Sir" Jason explained

  "J'mes? Is this true?"

  "Well, Yes, Sir"

  "Fine, you are sentenced to two lashes, one for attempted sabotage and one for dereliction of work, take him outside"

  Two weeks after that Jason made an interesting discovery. He was looking around the storeroom for some weapon components when he stumbled into a steel barrel. He opened the lid and prodded the silvery stuff inside with his knife, it was vaguely familiar, and so he decided to do a little test. First he marked the barrel as his and Zadyk's property, and then grabbed a canteen of water, and a small silver of the metal. He climbed to the observation deck, fixed the metal to the underside of the canteen's lid, screwed it back on and threw it as far away as possible. The canteen exploded a good way off, and Jason punched the air in triumph, just as he had suspected, Francium, he could do a lot with that barrel. When he brought the barrel back to his and Zadyk's workshop Zadyk looked at him like he was mad

  "Why have you brought a barrel full of fire lighting metal?" Zadyk asked him

  "Because I have a weaponry idea" Jason replied

 Their corvette was almost complete; it had a chasse, steering system, sails, a ramming spike, and two small crossbows. They were in the middle of building the light scorpion, giant crossbow, on the front of the corvette.

  Four days later they had finished the corvette and were attaching it to the launch bay system when D'vid came over to them

  "Good work guys, oh Jason, here" he handed him a badge "you are going to be a Strike, you will lead the 'Desert Trail' cadet squad in our first mission"

  "Thank you Sir, thanks a lot. Hey, is J'mes going to be in my squad D'vid, I mean Sir?" Jason said to D'vid

  "Yes, if he ever gets his corvette finished"

  "Hey Jason, Ready for launch?" Zadyk said to Jason

  "Yep"

 Jason climbed into the cockpit and closed the door; he strapped his feet down to the steering pedals and grasped the arm pegs. He gave Zadyk the signal to launch, and held on tight. The bay door opened and gave Jason a straight ramp to the desert below, Zadyk turned the handle that winched the belt forwards, and tipped Jason down onto the desert below. 

  The wind caught Jason's sails and he went rocketing away from the desert city, he pulled his left foot back and swung round in an ark to face the city again. People looked out of windows and all the cadets watched in fascination as Jason put the corvette through its paces, turns slow and fast, tight and loose. After a while Jason turned back to the ramp, and a crane picked him up and deposited him in the launch bay, to the cheers of the Windblades. He climbed out and went over to Zadyk

  "I think it works fine," he said

  Two weeks later, everyone's corvettes were finished and tested and assigned to squads. J'mes was fuming about Jason getting to be Strike instead of him, and that his corvette had ended up slower and less manoeuvrable than everyone else's.

 There was then a shout from the observation deck

  "Battle stations, Sarenjek City sighted and closing fast"


	11. Chapter 10 The Battle On The Sands

Nova Chapter 10 

   The Sarenjek were the worst enemy of the Wind Blades, and the city. Many times had they attacked the city, and many times the Wind Blades and other squads repelled them, but the Sarenjek, and their wheeled fortress city prowled the desert looking for them, and they had found them again, but the Sarenjek were carrying a secret weapon in the bowels of their fortress this time, and this time, this time, they would not lose as easily as they had last time.

  With the sighting of the fortress of the Sarenjek everyone onboard Sihn Baran sprang into action, the weather measurements were checked and triple checked, the control staff filed onto the bridge and took their places. Barankan, in the centre of the main bridge, gave the order to circle in, and prepare their secret weapon for attack. The emergency bells were rung on the drift deck, and the corvette pilots got to their vehicles and prepared for launch. Great doors opened in the side of Sihn Baran and ramps were pushed out for the craft, a bay on the underside of the city slid open too to allow the heavier classes of craft out; the dreadnoughts, Juggernauts and the Kraken.

  "What is happening?" asked Barankan, seeing a strange sight unfold on the Sarenjek fortress

  "I…I don't know my liege" replied one of the spotters as the sides of the fortress opened, and they saw battle craft inside

  "They have battle craft?! Launch waves one and two of the cruisers, one heavy chass and two strikes of corvettes" Roared Barankan "and ready the scorpions and the Kraken"

The orders were yelled down a transmitter on the bridge and blared out of the receiver in the craft bays as the Sarenjek launched the first waves of their craft. Jason and his Strike were Strike three and ended up right at the launch ramp as the first two strikes were winched along the deck with the hand cranked fans blowing air into their sails. Jason could see the Sarenjek craft, ugly, squat things, with blades on the side and ramming spikes up front, and a pilot lying down on their front, steering with two levers infront of them.

  The first two Strikes sped off down the ramp towards the enemy craft, other doors swinging open above them and scorpions, giant crossbows, swung out. These were an invention of Jason's, the head of the bolt was hollow and the front was packed with francium, there was a thin paper divider and some water on the other side so when the bolt was fired the water would be pushed to the back of the head, and when it hit it's target it would fling the water through the divider and make contact with the francium, destroying it, and blowing a sizeable hole in anything.

  As the two cities circled each other the strike craft sped across the gap towards each other the Sarenjek unveiled their secret weapon, two, gigantic, steel spikes, each one easily 25m long, slid out of the front of the fortress, ramming spikes!

   "Oh Ska-rit!! Launch all craft, aim for the wheels, take that fortress down!" yelled Barankan, tightening his hands into fists and getting to his feet

  The command was barked down the command tube, "Launch all craft, Launch all craft, Aim for the fortress' wheels" and the decks came alive with activity, every pilot got to their craft, all corvettes were placed on the tracks, the cranes readied the heavy Chasses, the under decks prepared to drop the two Destroyers, the three Juggernauts and The Kraken, the heavy battle dreadnought.

  Jason's Strike was first out, his corvette, Strike 1, was first in the group of corvettes that made up his strike. Jason's corvette was tipped down the ramp, and he was out of the bay, dashing across the sand towards the giant, and ever growing, Sarenjek Fortress. Jason looked out of his cockpit and saw an enemy heading in his direction, he pointed one of his crossbows at the face inside, and squeezed the trigger. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the man's head jerk back and the window became covered in the pilot's blood

_  'You did what you had to, now concentrate, fight now, grieve later' _came Ruth's voice in his head, snapping him out of his decent into shock

  Spinning his corvette to face the fortress, and to avoid the spinning wreckage that was the Sarenjek craft, he opened full sail and hurled himself and his corvette towards the Fortress readying the scorpion mounted on his corvette. He approached the Fortress at blistering speed…and let fly his scorpion bolt, it sailed through the air almost in slow motion for Jason, this was his design's big début, and then it crashed into the prow of the fortress, exploding and causing a sizeable hole to appear. Jason wheeled round and ran alongside the fortress, curved away from it then turned back towards it, this time facing the side, and mammoth wheels. Jason pulled a lever and activated a final weapon he had installed secretly, and the two barrels slid into place as Jason accelerated towards the fortress' wheels, he was 50m away, 35m, 15, 10, Jason had unstraped himself from the chair and braced himself…He Deamanad and smashed out of the top of the corvette as it ploughed into the wheel, it exploded as the barrel-load of water came into contact with the francium in the other barrel, the wheel was totally destroyed, and the wheels on either side got great chunks blown out of them as Jason sailed into the air and began to chill the water particles in the air around him, little droplets of ice were forming before him as he continued to soar upwards, he then let loose a flurry of flying ice towards the fortress, hundreds of tonnes of ice smashed into the side of the Sarenjek city, destroying a path up the side of it, at the same time the scorpions on Sihn-Baran loosed their bolts as did all the craft that had been upgraded with incendiary scorpions. The fortress buckled and fell to the desert, ploughing a furrow up to Sihn-Baran, destroying it's own craft along the way.

  As Jason walked back towards the city in Deamana form, he felt someone detect his presence and so split himself from his spirit form. He climbed back aboard the now non-moving city to applause, along with all those who returned. When looking at the MIA/KIA lists Jason saw J'mes' name on the list, MIA, as did C'rrol. Jason heard her sob and saw her run off, up to the observation deck, he saw her walk to the edge of a platform nearest to the edge, by now most people were looking at her, and dive off, someone shrieked (maybe C'rrol) as C'rrol plummeted to earth. Jason acted with speed befitting his Deamana form, he re-fused with his spirit form and dove off the side a dam sight lower to the ground that C'rrol had been, and snatched her from her dive, landing on the sand and breaking a few ribs and his left arm, Ruth bellowed as the pain shot across his mind link to Jason, and both of them passed out.

  Jason came too when he felt something dig him painfully in his broken ribs

  "Ey, J'son? What are you doing with my girl?" demanded a familiar voice

  "Hello J'mes…I have just saved C'rrol…from killing herself…here, take her" replied Jason in snatched gasps of breath, handing out C'rrol to J'mes

  "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, get up, Get Up! You've had your eye on C'rrol from the beginning haven't you?" yelled J'mes

  "No…I don't want C'rrol…don't fight me" replied Jason, gasping for breath

  "Oh, so C'rrol isn't good enough for you eh?" Shouted J'mes pulling Jason to his feet

  "That's…not…what…I said" replied Jason, and got a punch in the face from J'mes. It was only then that either of them noticed the red stain spreading across the front of Jason's uniform

  "What the? Ahh, PRIEST!" screamed J'mes to the crowd of people above them in the city

Jason was picked up and borne away on a stretcher by two Priests, and then he passed out as they passed through the gates to the temple.


	12. Chapter 11 Attack of the Sarenjek and l...

Nova  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Inside the temple the priests offered prayers to the gods and left Jason on a stretcher, lying on an Alter of sorts. Unconscious, Jason saw only black, then a mist appeared, then the mist became a raging sandstorm and it cleared away, leaving Jason standing in a vast desert of his sub-conscious.  
  
Visions began to appear, the survivors of the Sarenjek fortress charging out, a strange triamaran boat, a great battle. Jason looked at the battle, staring at the leader in the armour, it was him! He had his digi-bond armour over another armour, this one with blades curving out of the gauntlets and shoulders. Imbedded in the armour's shoulder pads were the two crests he wore; the crest of Time and the crest of Blades. In the battle him and two others in similar armour were leading a charge against, Jar'eneth, also clad in armour, who was wielding a massive blade, half as tall again as Jason, and about as wide as him as well. Then the scene shifted back to the charge of the Sarenjek  
  
"Hurry human, we show you glimpses of the future"..."avert the chaos you missing them would bring"... "Go quickly, chosen of the dragon, you are healed, help your friends"  
  
The three voices that Jason heard came from a strange creature; the bottom was like a pyramid with an eye on it, there was a gap then a four armed creature, then a gap, then a creature who was mainly a head with hair blowing around and silken tendrils drifting off it.  
  
"What are you?" Jason asked of this stacked creature  
  
"We are the Trimvate, the three gods of the desert wanderers," they said in unison  
  
"But..."  
  
"Go, your noble friends do lack you," Said the 'Head' of the Trimvate  
  
The sandstorm began again and faded into whiteness, and then Jason's eyes snapped open. He leapt off the Alter, his wounds indeed being healed, and ran to his sword. He grabbed Janto and tore out onto the deck just in time to see the swarm of Sarenjek charge out of the wreckage of the fortress  
  
"All Wind Blades to me..." called D'ana, Jason and Ruth ran down to the corvette bays after D'ana. Asheth was waiting, the ramps were down. D'ana drew her Atlas blade  
  
"Ready? Cheeeaaaaarrrrrrrggggeeee!!!!" Cried D'ana, vaulting onto Asheth's back and flying out of the bay, Jason followed suit, Janto in one hand, Atlas blade across his back  
  
"I feel the battle, Blood Rage rising" said Ruth into Jason's mind, his eyes turning red.  
  
Jason could feel Janto thirsting for blood and spirit fused, leaping off Ruth into the middle of the pack of enemies. A Blood Rage had seized him, he no longer shuddered at killing, and he was hacking his way through them like a reaper through corn. Heads flew from shoulders, torsos slid apart, enemies became drastically shorter and still Jason hacked his way through them, Ruth shredding and eating Sarenjek, picking single people from the dumb herd that ran blindly on, falling at the blades of Sihn Baran's defenders, even Barankan was hacking at Sarenjeks as they neared him. Jason let some elemental magic rip through enemies and icicles flew through them as if they were made of wet rice paper.  
  
In just over an hour it was all over and the warriors collapsed, spent, to the ground, surrounded by carcasses from both sides. D'vid's Phoenix set fire to the remains of the Sarenjek, the bodies of those of Sihn Baran were carried up to the Temple. Jason passed J'mes, crying over the badly wounded and rather prone form of C'rrol. Again, someone sensed Jason's prescience, Jason held the contact long enough to confirm the identity, Al'x, the Dragon Keeper.  
  
At the feast Jason announced he would be leaving the city, but said he would contact them soon. D'ana decided to come with Jason so they both gathered their possessions and commandeered a heavy cargo transport, sailing off north, the dragons on the back, to the nearest sea, and to a port that would take them to Centranda, the continent upon which Jason's Quest had begun. 


	13. Chapter 12 At the port of Kilikar

Nova 

Chapter 12

  Guided by Jason's vision from the gods D'ana drove the four of them across the desert towards a port city Jason had seen in his vision in the temple, the port of Kilikar, the great city by the sea.

  Nightly, while he slept, Jason was haunted by dreams of a great battle, him in the armour, then a dual between him and some black Deamon in a tower and a scene in a familiar clearing.

  It was the place in the Digital World where he gave Marie her crest, he could see her standing there, he walked over to her and embraced her. He sensed something and whirled away from Marie as a black shape sprang from the bushes. He yelled something as the world seemed to slow down, the shadow came closer, Jason reached for his sword, but too slowly, the shadow's sword was pointed at him and it was moving faster now, it hit his chest and the world seem ed to fast forward. He was pinned to a tree by the sword, his cloths dyed red in his own blood and the shadow changed, it began to morph into someone…

  Jason sat up sharply, bathed in his own cold sweat, he looked about and saw two pairs of dragon eyes staring at him, Ruth's and Asheth's, D'ana was also staring at him, looking concerned,

  "Are you okay?" she asked, tying the drive to straight and climbing into the back of the cargo skiff they had rode out on from Sihn Baran

  "Y…Yeah, I'm fine, just fine" Jason replied, "just a bad dream"

  "Some dream, you were convulsing and thrashing around and yelling, then you stopped and shot up, you sure you're okay?" D'ana said, one hand scratching Asheth's head to calm him down

  "I'm fine, you should get back to driving" he told her, lying back down in the bed set up in the cargo truck, "I should get some sleep, I'm driving soon"

  It was Jason who drove them into the port city of Kilikar just as the wind died out leaving the cargo freighter coasting to a stop. Jason climbed to the back and shook D'ana's sleeping form,

  "D'ana, D'ana wake up, we're there," He said as she woke up

They got down from the cargo truck and walked into the city with the dragons, Jason searching for the ship he saw in his vision, the gleaming white, three masted Triamaran that would take him back to the central continent and the Dragon, Sethneth.

  They reached the city's centre at about lunchtime and sat at a tavern and had a drink and a lunch, they had been causing a crowd where they went and there was no exception here, everyone wanted to see the strange outsiders with the odd swords. Jason felt a pinch at his side and looked down to see his money bag, a gift from the people of Sin Baran, gone, he could see the perpetrator squirming away through the crowd, that bag had a necklace Marie had given him in it.

  He gave a roar of anger and leapt after the thief, chasing him through the crowd, the thief turned and twisted through the press of onlookers as an angry Jason stayed one step behind him until they were out of the crowd then he Deamanad and sprang at the thief, sword drawn and grabbed his throat, slamming him against the wall

  "Give it back you piece of scum!" he growled into the thief's face, brandishing Janto

  "I…I don't…It's mine now, I took it, It's mine" Said the thief, brandishing the bag, Wrong move

  Jason sliced the thief's hand off and threw him away, obtaining his bag and walking back to the tavern to pick up D'ana

  The Thief was screaming, cradling the stump of his hand in his robes, "You'll pay for that!" he yelled at Jason "You'll pay!" then he dashed off into the shadows

  "I think we best be going now" he said, un-fusing back to human form

  They set off towards the port leaving the wounded thief behind.

  On the Docks Jason spotted the ship and walked over to the man sat beside its moorings,

  "You the captain of this ship?" he asked the man 

  "Yeah, I'm captain Koran of the _Wave Cutter_, who wants to know?"

  "I'm Jason, this is D'ana, we need passage to Centranda for us and two Dragons" Jason told the captain, indicating the others

  "Fine enough, costs ya 15 Creel each, that 's 60 Creel total, I sail tonight at sundown with or without you" Replied Captain Koran, taking their money

  "See you at sundown then" D'ana said, turning to go back into the city, none of them saw the one handed thief watching, waiting until the best moment for revenge.

  Jason and D'ana left the Dragons on the ship and went for a walk around the markets, they had a few Creel each left to spend and the market was cheaper than any stores would be. In the shadows the one pair of eyes was joined by more of its clan, ready for the opportunity to strike.

  Jason had found a weapon-smith's stall and was eyeing the weapons on sale when the clan struck, they shot with their blowpipes, sending darts full of sleeping drug into their target, who crumbled to the floor, falling into the arms of a thief who had positioned himself beside the target, pulling the body into the shadows.

  Jason looked around for D'ana, but couldn't see her anywhere, he thought she had just walked off somewhere, but they were due to leave at sundown so she would probably re-appear then. An hour later D'ana still hadn't appeared anywhere, Jason hadn't actually seen her anywhere.

  "You Jason?" asked a voice behind him, Jason turned and saw a man in black robes, similar to ones he'd seen before, on the thief who's hand he cut off, Jason's eyes narrowed as he remembered the thief's words, _"I'll get you for this! I'll get you!"_

  "Yeah, I'm Jason, What do you want?" he said, his voice less than welcoming

  "The thief Clan Eshin has your friend held captive, our leader wishes your acquaintance to straighten out a matter that happened earlier today" he said, starting to back away

  Jason's hand shot out and grabbed the thief, "Where is she?" he growled into the thief's face, lifting him off the ground, then checking the sun, it was nearing sundown.

  "I'll show you, honestly this don't sit well with me, if he had a complaint he shouldn't have kidnapped your friend, he should've taken up with you" replied the thief, Jason placing him back on the ground, and he set off towards the tunnel network of the thief clan.

  He led Jason straight to the leader of the clan, who was in an amphitheatre sitting in a throne, made of the bones of a strange creature.

  "So you are the Jason that Agrin was ranting about, you seem well armed for these parts" he said,

Jason was still fuming about D'ana's kidnapping, but he could see that the clan leader didn't seem to have had any part in the incident, "Yeah, I'm Jason, and I'm not from around these parts, now where's D'ana?" he said, managing to refrain from yelling

  "I honestly don't know, but I know who does, AGRIN!!!!" he yelled, calling the thief to him, Agrin saw Jason and waved a metal hand at him, the fingers were talons.

  "Yes Master, what do you wish me to do to him?" he asked, rubbing the back of the metal hand attached to his stump

  "Nothing Agrin, fetch his friend" the Master ordered, Agrin looked disgusted as he left to fetch D'ana, "So Jason, why has Agrin abducted your friend?"

  "He stole a pouch that contained something precious to me, I caught him and he refused to give it up so I removed the hand holding the pouch" Jason told him, the necklace now hanging round his neck, as Agrin walked in wheeling a sheet of metal, attached to the metal was D'ana, manacled at her ankles, wrists and across her middle.

  "What do you wish me to do to her master?" Agrin asked, his slimy voice crackling with anticipation

  "Release her at once" the master ordered

  "WHAT!? WHY!?" Agrin yelled at the master

  "Because you were obviously in the wrong"

  "But he removed ny HAND!!" Agrin yelled disbelieving what his master was telling him, he undid D'ana's bonds, she took a swipe at him but missed as he ran off away from the chamber, D'ana running over to Jason, Embracing him

  "Thank you, thank you for coming to get me" she said, tightening her hug then releasing him

  "Of course I came, Friend's don't abandon each other, here" Jason gave her his Atlas sword, she had had hers removed

  There came a strange noise from the tunnel Agrin had left down, like a wolf howl, only a wolf trying to howl through it's teeth, as if they were getting in the way. The master went very white.

  "He has released the Jaw-Hound, what is he doing, the fool!" The master yelled, jumping from his throne and opening a trapdoor, "If you value your lives, flee this place" he told them as he jumped down the hole

  The Jaw-Hound rounded the corner, it was an immense dog, the size of a lion, with an oversized mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, a thief ran past and the Hound's jaw leapt off it's face on a strange spring of muscle and bone, the jaw almost engulfing the thief, and snapping closed, the thief's legs hanging out of the thing's mouth. Jason and D'ana looked at each other, and ran, they ran as fast as they could through the labyrinth that was the thief tunnels, they could hear the Jaw-Hound behind them.

  "D'ana, can you Deamana?" asked Jason, preparing his transformation

  "Yeah"

"Then do it, now"

  Jason became the Ice lion and he looked at D'ana, who fused as a huge lizard, like a wingless dragon, who was mainly black but had a huge red stripe from her snout to her tail.

  Their Deamana forms moved faster and kept them ahead of the Jaw-Hound as they burst from the tunnel entrance and scattered the crowd before the Jaw-Hound smashed its way free of the narrow tunnels, the enraged beast spotted the pair just before a ball of black fire smashed into it's face.

  "What was that?" Jason asked as they turned from the enraged beast

  "That is Darkfire, it burns but leaves no marks" she said as an explanation, "To the boat"

  They dashed towards the boat as the extremely angry Jaw-Hound tore after them; they saw Captain Koran standing on the ship.

  The captain saw their plight and knew what had to be done, they couldn't out run the Monster, and the Dragons were asleep in the hold, so he looked that no one was watching and pulled a rifle from the case on the crate beside him. He took aim on the Jaw-Hound's head, following it, he controlled his breathing, trying not to be tense, in and out, in and out, he slid his finger around the trigger, the Hound was gaining on the pair trying to reach the ship, he zoomed onto the spot he needed to hit, all three of them were nearing the ship, the crowd would see the weapon soon, in and out, in and out, as he breathed out he squeezed the trigger, the muzzle flashed, disgorging the slug from the chamber, sending it flying towards the creature, the slug impacted in the creature's head, and exploded, killing the creature instantly.

  The two fugitives threw themselves onto the ship as Koran stored the gun, casting off.

  "Thanks…for that...where'd the gun…come from?" Jason said, panting

  "You know about the rifle? Who are you?" Koran asked, feeling suspicious of the youth

Jason sat down and told them the whole story…


End file.
